Jessica Harp was part of a country duo with Michelle Branch called The Wreckers, but the singer has broke out on her own. She stopped by the J-14 offices to spill the deets on her new solo album, coming out this fall, Michelle, and her most embarrassing stage moment yet!
J-14: How would you describe your sound?
Jessica Harp: My sound is definitely very country, but it's probably a little more modern country. I love the record.
J-14: There are a bunch of young country stars, like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Kellie Pickler, making waves right now. Are you influenced by them?
Jessica: Yeah, I think we all probably influence each other. But I'm most influenced by my heroes, like Reba McEntire and The Judds. I have freak out moments when I bump into them. That's probably where most of my influence is from.
J-14: Were you a big fan of Reba?
Jessica: I had my tonsils out, and my mom took me to Reba to make me feel better, and that was my first concert!
J-14: Can you tell me a little about your new record?
Jessica: My favorite track is probably the title track, "A Woman Needs." That song is very special to me, because I wrote it about my life and my path and for woman. Originally I was going to call the record A Few Second Chances. There's a line and it says, "A woman needs a few second chances." And I know in my life -- not just in my career, but in my personal life, too -- I've needed a few second chances to find the right path, to find peace and happiness, and I think a lot of people feel that way. So that's definitely a special song and that's why I decided to call the record, A Woman Needs.
J-14: Will you reunite with Michelle Branch for a second Wreckers album?
Jessica: We don't really know. We feel like it's sort of out there if we want to come back to it, but we were solo artists before, and when it came time to make our second record, we were writing in different directions. We didn't want to force another album for the sake of forcing it because we are both very organic artists and are very true to ourselves and our music. So we just decided let's do the solo thing, and we have The Wreckers to come back to if we want. Honestly, it was a completely fluke thing. We made that record selfishly because we've been friends forever and had written these songs and really wanted to make a record together and had no idea the success that would come with it. It was a whirlwind.
J-14: Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on tour?
Jessica: I'm very clumsy, but this was the only time I've ever fallen. We were playing in New York, at the Bowery Ballroom for the One Tree Hill Tour.The stage was really, really tall, and the crowd was this huge crowd, and they have this barricade between the stage, and it's super tall. The crowd was nuts -- it was wild, a great show, so Michelle and I are both completely pumped after. The show ends, and I decide that I'm gonna jump down and go hug some fans and sign autographs. Yet I'm wearing tall heels, so I jump down off the stage and my heels just go up, and I land on my butt. Luckily only the people in the front saw, and they were very nice and they helped me up, but I just went along and said hi to everyone. I'm really not easily embarrassed. I make fun of myself all of the time.
J-14: Who are your favorite artists right now?
Jessica: When I get so immersed in working on a record and country radio, I need to listen to something else. I was completely out of touch with what was going on in the pop world, so I have been listening to pop radio a lot lately. I love The All-American Rejects new record, The Fray's new record, and I love Katy Perry's record. That's probably my favorite. I play "Thinking Of You" on repeat
